A/N: I blame/credit Remote Control Princess for this. :)

Sorry for the title.

Disclaimer: I'm not Fox.

"Boom!"

She almost lost her footing on the loose gravel for the third time and tried not to curse. If she'd known that she was going to a construction site, she would have just brought her sneakers. She rolled her eyes at the thought and tried to stop her heart from racing.

"So, why am I here again?"

"We caught the guy who made the threat. We need you to figure out if it's real. Lightman said you could handle it."

Ria took a breath in and out and tried to tell herself that Lightman didn't give out confidence unless it was earned.

"What kind of threat was it?"

Ben stopped cold to look at her. "Didn't he tell you anything?"

"No." She shook her head, "He just handed me the address and told me to get over here."

Ben gave a rueful laugh and continued, opening a door to let Ria through first.

"We got a bomb threat this morning. Police think that they have the guys responsible, but they can't get anything out of them. That's where you come in."

"Right. Why do they want to blow this place up?"

"It's going to be an abortion clinic."

"Ah."

She thought she sounded calm enough, and Ben certainly didn't seem to be tipped off. So far, so good. Now, all she had to do was not blow it.

She almost gasped when Ben stopped suddenly and turned to tower over her.

"Okay, we're at the edge of what they think is the blast radius. You stay here, a'ight? I'll bring them out to you." He furrowed his brow and looked her over. "You okay? I can leave you farther away, if you want. No reason to put you in harm's way."

She blinked and shook her head. "I, uh, this is fine, thanks."

Before she knew it, he was close enough that she could smell his aftershave. "You're not going to try to be a hero, are you? You've got nothing to prove here." His brown eyes are only inches away from hers as they seemed to bore right into her soul. She had to remind herself to breathe.

"No, of course not."

"Good he said," nodding, then turning to go. "I'll be right back, just stay put!"

She took another deep breath and smelled the freshly-cut wood and new paint. A look around revealed that she was standing in what would probably end up being the reception area. Thinking about being in the waiting room of an abortion clinic while Ben was inside seemed both wrong and hilarious. She had managed to almost grin her nerves away when she heard hurried footsteps coming towards her.

When Ben rounded the corner, he was running at full speed, and more afraid than she'd ever seen him.

"It's gonna blow!"

"Wha-?"

Before she had the chance to process what was happening, Ben slammed her against the wall and threw himself against her as the entire room exploded into dust with a large BOOM! The human shield created by his tall, broad frame kept her safe from the large pieces of shrapnel when the construction site turned into thousands of pieces of wood and metal.

She was breathing hard, and she knew he could feel her chest empty and swell. She knew, because she could feel him breathe against her.

"You," he said, panting, "you okay?"

She swallowed and tried not to think about the smell of his cologne, or his aftershave, or the feeling of his warm flesh pressing against hers as his hands kept her arms securely in place.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks Ben," she said, finding her throat dry. If only she could stop shaking.

"No, ah, no problem." He seemed to linger as he pulled away from her, and she didn't mind. When he turned to survey the area, she saw that every part of his body that hadn't been facing her was covered in white dust.

"Here, let me help you with that," she said, patting the debris from his jacket, then standing on her toes to run her fingers through his hair.

"Oh, uh thanks." She saw the pulse on the side of his neck start to quicken at her touch, and she was gone. Something about the blood pumping through her own veins made her take his jacket off and pull him around to face her.

Then she grabbed his shirt and jerked him down until his lips were on hers.

"Uh, thanks," he said pulling from the kiss as he looked down and away.

"No problem," she said drawing him in for a second time.

END